Christian Castillo is released by D.C. United

D.C. United on Tuesday announced it has released midfielder Christian Castillo, ending a short and disappointing stint in D.C. for the El Salvadoran international.

Castillo came to D.C. with much fanfare -- United held a news conference to introduce the 25-year-old midfielder -- and was expected to both bolster United's midfield and help reinvigorate the Salvadoran fan base in D.C.

But Castillo failed to adjust to the more physical play in MLS and made just 10 league appearances with United, starting eight, after being acquired on Dec. 18, 2009 from Leon of the Mexican Second Division. Castillo did not score in 691 minutes of MLS play.

Castillo started in two U.S. Open Cup games, scoring against FC Dallas, but also battled injuries and ultimately was not performing up to the club's hopes when it signed him last winter. The emergence of 17-year-old Andy Najar as a legitimate starter on the wing and the return of Chris Pontius to the lineup gave United better options on the outside.

"We would like to thank Christian for his time at D.C. United," United General Manager Dave Kasper said in a release. "And we wish him the best of luck in his playing career."

The Big Balls on Wipeout are Soccer Balls tonight! LOL! World Cup Edition of Wipeout on ABC!

Thought it was interesting seeing Christian Gomez AND Christian Castillo in a Cabal Sausage ad on one of the spanish speaking channels I've been getting my HD World Cup action in on earlier this week... Grind ya up, send ya packin' I guess?

Release Perkins and Q? Seriously? Perkins is doing much better since the start of the year, we have an actual keeper competition on our hands and Quaranta is consistently one of our better players, combines well with Pontius and is still young to boot.

Castillo never did much here. He would wave his arms for the ball then not do much when he got it. Hopefully his short stint doesn't slow down other Concacaf national team players from coming to DC... think it's a fertile ground to pick up talent.

Quaranta can do no wrong for some people. It does not matter how many free kicks he sails over the bar, how ineffective his dribbling ability is. How many years will we continue to talk about Quaranta's potential (the count is at 10 years, we signed him in 2001)?

Seriously, we're going to debate whether Quaranta can play in MLS? Why don't we just release everybody and fold the league then.

I'm sorry Castillo didn't work out. He had a couple of sparks, for example against AC Milan, but he otherwise didn't look like his heart was in it. A bit of Gallardo to it (though at a lesser talent level and without the injury.)

I find great merit in releasing both Quaranta and Burch. Quaranta is just way over rated and I just don't seem him being a part of United's future. He's had many many chances and has failed on each occasion. I say its time to go.

I'd like to point out that at the beginning of the year United's offense was supposed to go through Quaranta. We say how successful that has been. Quaranta's play this year has been so bad that he was not able to start on what has been the worst team in MLS.

AS for Burch, I just don't know why United continues to keep him on. As his best Burch is very ordinary, even a below average for MLS left back. Perhaps he can't and shouldn't be let go just now because of his injury but surely once he recovers, United needs to let him loose.

The United want $25 to see their game at GMU tomorrow, good luck selling a fraction of the 5,000 seats at that price. I'll be in the area and I'd like to take the family but I'm not paying $100 to see our bench players take on the Kickers.

If the front office is looking to make another free agent splash during the transfer window then yes, they will probably release Emilio. Burch isn't going anywhere. With Wallace out for a few more weeks and Graye (a promising right back playing out of position on the left) getting beaten by the likes of Renteria, I would be delighted if we signed another defender.

Anyone who has been watching Quaranta since his foray into the league knows he has regressed. He should have gone overseas for his development instead of joining DCU. During his first two years, the guy showed no fear taking on players. Unfortunately he still depends on his straight line speed too much which curtailed development in other areas of his game. While he runs hard and plays with alot of passion, he never has improved his dribbling or shooting accuracy. Yes he has a hard shot, but they are always off target like Namoff.

I promise this is my final post of the night! I think it's difficult to talk about Tino without bringing Pontius into the discussion because they play the same position(s). They both prefer playing on the outside but can play forward. IMO Pontius is a better forward because of his heading ability. I know they switch positions during the flow of the game, but that doesn't always work out. If we played each of them outside, what would we do with Najar? Now that Tino and Pontius are healthy this is a good problem to have. If Onalfo can put the pieces together, we're going to score some goals!

I don't recall who implied that there just isn't much interest in DCU during the World Cup but whomever it was this thread proves I was right (there is plenty of interest) and you were wrong. Vamos United!

Before he resumes his professional career, Castillo should get some remedial heading practice with Joe Doc and I-270. I can think of three crosses he could have put in the net.

dcarmy:
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Don't be ridiculous, just look at the two goals Castillo score against the US in qualifiers, great world class headers.

One thing is that things didn't work out for him with D.C. and another to make stupid comment like yours.

Castillo's injury didn't contribute much into his adjustment with D.C., 10 games, a looser team with number of looses? first of all the coaches head should have rolled before Castillo's. Curt Onalfo is one of the worst coaches D.C. United has ever had.

Things simply didn't work out and it was simply difficult for him to adjust. As a loyal DC United fan I hope things turn around and DC's biggest problem without a question is CURT ONALFO!

Wow. Our player evaluations have been pretty poor the last 2-3 years. So many have come and gone -- great potential that never panned out. What are we missing? Gallardo, Szetela, Castillo... all busts in DC. What is the real problem? I don't just mean who is to blame, but why are the DC United decisions not holding water over several years? What is the core fault or are we just having a surprising amount of bad luck?

Actually PrinceBuster21, since we apparently have to add someone to the Hall every single season, Castillo will probably be added in 2047, edging out Henry Zambrano and Scott Vermillion.

Castillo had plenty of time to adjust. Other than increasing his work rate off the ball, he didn't. Meanwhile, the coaching staff has gotten improvements out of guys like Graye and James, so you can't reasonably blame this on Onalfo. I had high hopes for Castillo, but he never figured out how to deal with MLS defenders. Having Pontius on the left instead of him has made us a much, much better team.

I'm surprised this even elicited such a fuss. Castillo was one of the worst players on the team, and we'll soon need roster spots to add players (as well as international slots). This shouldn't be a surprise.

Amen, PowerBoater69... I went to one of the U.S. open cup games at RFK earlier in the season with a friend who's a season ticket holder, and I noticed they were actually charging $30 for tickets at the gate.
WTF? Is it the front office's objective to minimize the crowd size at every game?

It's bad enough that the team sucks, but how can you expect to be able to compete with the other DC sports teams when you can see the Nationals, Wizards, or Caps for less money than United?

It seems that DCU had multiple objectives for Castillo. One, obviously was his prospect as a left side midfielder. The other was the marketing value to the Salvadoran population. It became obvious early that one was dependent on the other; his on-field performance was weak, and this in turn didn't help the team win games which in turn didn't help with the marketing. Remember he was obtained on loan from second division Leon in Mexico. I guess he will now go back there. Too bad for all parties that it didn't work out.